SEO Certification

zoomsixx

zoomsixx

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I thought this would be a great question for my first post in white hat SEO. Recently I have thought about starting a legitimate white HAT SEO venture. I thought that certification would be important to show customers you have taken the time to actually learn your trade.

I searched and found a few legitimate looking sites offering certification. A couple were fairly cheap, the $50 range to be exact. Another I found was in the range of $2k.

Either way, price isn't important. Can anyone suggest a good place to start? I'm not looking for a diploma mill or some overpriced online tech school.

Maybe I should put together a site that offers SEO certification. lol
 
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There isn't really a standardization for the industry yet. If you REALLY wanted a certification the best one to pursue would be the Google one for adwords certification with specialization in search:

http://www.google.com/adwords/professionals/
 
I'm heavily involved in the IT Certification industry; and as Winchester says, there are no accepted certifications yet...

And there aren't likely to be really. It's too 'fluid' a field and there are no main vendors who would have any commercial interest in backing it. The only company could be Google; and what kind of SEO would they want?!

Adwords is about the only area you can get certification in. Unless of course you extend it to more tech certifications like Apache, Linux, Web Development etc. or creative cert's like the Adobe ACE/ACP's. But obviously, this isn't SEO.

All the SEO 'courses' that are out there are pretty shocking quality and very out of date.
 
Best evidence is to create and rank your own sites. Sell a few off under your company name for $X00,000 and you have all the proof of your abilities you need. Certainly more convincing than passing some 30 minute multiple choice web test.
 
I think I'll check out the Adwords certification. Is that free? Also has anyone ever heard of Full Sail University. Seems they offer quite an expensive SEO program.
 
zoomsixx said:
I think I'll check out the Adwords certification. Is that free? Also has anyone ever heard of Full Sail University. Seems they offer quite an expensive SEO program.
Click to expand...

Never heard of any recognized certification except for "google adwords' one.
you can always get certified in data mining / web analytics from WAA as well, if interested. They are the only two I know thats legit for for any 'internet marketing' related stuff.
 
SEO Field is wast and Change Algorithm every Year..So making Certificates for SEO field is not like Php Certified..As Language Commands keeps same with only few changes in Versions..but as SEO changes Totally from 0 to all..As 3 years ago we get rankings with 100-2000 Directories Links..then Link exchange now a days Wiki links and Pyramids works..So Making SEO certificates keep changing Questions every 3 months..!!making hell SEO field..So no real SEO Certified..Yet You can be a Google Adwords Certified..If you want..
 
The only thing customers want to see is Results.
 
zoomsixx said:
I think I'll check out the Adwords certification. Is that free? Also has anyone ever heard of Full Sail University. Seems they offer quite an expensive SEO program.
Click to expand...
I think Google adword certification is free cos after signing in it gave a candidate id and showed links to study and take exams, but i may be wrong.
 
I was thinking about getting a SEO Certification too, i dont think that you will learn anything from that but it is just for the customers point of view.
That's the SEO Certification that a couple of my competitors have:

Code: 
http://www.seo-training-course.com/

In my opinion start with google adwords certification, like the posts above suggested
 
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Google certifications ARE free IF you join the Google Engage program and get approved. You need to take 2 Google exams ($50 a piece) to be approved. You take the general one and then a specialization in:

-Search Advertising
-Display Advertising
-Reporting & Analysis

Which ever one you get will show up as your "specialization" on your certification profile and certificate.
 
Winchester said:
Google certifications ARE free IF you join the Google Engage program and get approved. You need to take 2 Google exams ($50 a piece) to be approved. You take the general one and then a specialization in:

-Search Advertising
-Display Advertising
-Reporting & Analysis

Which ever one you get will show up as your "specialization" on your certification profile and certificate.
Click to expand...

This is getting interesting. i never this. Thanks!!!

I am interested in getting some certification for FREE, but i cant seem to find it on their FAQ. They did mention getting adwords coupon FREE tho. Can you please guide me to the right direction?

Also, how many 'free' exams voucher do we get after joining? Vouchers for all 3? or just 1?

Please advise. Thanks
 
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It is near impossible to create an industry standard qualification.

You're much more likely to get clients if you can show proof of sites you've ranked in the past with traffic and revenue figures.

I'd much rather hire someone with proven experience than someone with a nice piece of paper.
 
I would only recommend getting the Google Adwords certification. Everything else is pretty worthless. Also, most of the information in these courses will be outdated. Although the core principles will be the same, they'll still be talking about stuff that was new a couple of years ago, not what was new in the last couple of months.

Don't waste your money build up a little ranking portfolio before you try for the big clients. Maybe even get a loss leader to then use as a reference/proof of quality when you're selling.
 
You could just start make your own certification program and make a fancy cert logo. Ad it to your website. Bam you are SEO certified.
 
yes google adwords and google analytics certificate are good to start but both the certification are paid. But its worth to do
 
Forget fullsail they are mainly a multimedia (audio video)production school
who is jumping on the band wagon to cash in on the latest craze!

you can learn more browsing BHW

whats the point of the cert since most everyday people have no idea what SEO involves anyway?

but if you must Market Motive put togetehr a decent course in 2010
you can find it on BHW

check out Google Engage for agencies you can get access to some cert stuff there
 
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